There’s nothing quite like the start of May. Yes, the movie release schedule has become much more varied in recent years, with blockbusters invading all parts of the calendar. But there’s nothing quite like the start of the summer movie season.

The moments before the summer movie season begins are among my most hopeful. The time when all the would-be blockbusters seem like they could surprise, entertain and wow us. When the hype, excitement and hope is at its highest point. When a quick look at the movie schedule over the next four months brings questions on just how am I going to see all these movies? As a movie fan, there are few times that rival the start of May.

What will this summer bring? Let’s take a quick look. Part one will look at Superhero films and animation. Part two will hit this weekend and look at big sequels and potential breakouts.

Superhero showdown

Possibly the biggest film of the summer will also be its first. “Captain America: Civil War” is essentially an Avengers film. And both of those can lay claim to two of the top five opening weekends of all time. The buzz has been high and the reviews have been strong. Add in seeing the appeal of Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Tony Stark) face off, as well as several of the other heroes in the Marvel universe, and this is a slam dunk. Marvel can do no wrong so far and the hype on this one seems higher than even “Age of Ultron”. It won’t be “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”-type numbers, but it may be the highest Marvel opening ever.

Opening weekend: $210 million.

Total: $550 million.

“X-Men: Apocalypse” seems like it should be set to enter the upper echelon of franchises. Yet, “Days of Future Past”, which performed strongly with critics and holds a very strong rating on IMDB, topped out at $233 million, essentially tied with “The Last Stand”. Only one X-Men film has grossed more than $300 million: Deadpool.

Given this track record, it’s hard to see Apocalypse doing significantly better, even if this is a great film.

Opening weekend: $115-120 million (four-day).

Total: $240-250 million.

“Suicide Squad” will be among the most interesting to watch from a box office perspective. It’s being released in August, which normally isn’t a great time (though “Guardians of the Galaxy proved a film can thrive in this timeframe). Will Smith provides a huge name, though everyone remembers “After Earth” don’t we?

The biggest question is how, if at all, does “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” affect this film. It is a connected universe, after all. And that film’s bad reception has caused a very different trailer to come out, one that makes the film look far lighter than all previous trailers. I wonder if that will dent this film’s long-term prospects.

Opening weekend: $85-95 million.

Total: $260-270 million.

Animation overload?

In a somewhat unusual situation, there could be a major animation overload this summer. “Finding Dory” will likely be the cream of the crop. Pixar unleashes a sequel to one of its most beloved films. It should improve significantly on “Finding Nemo” in terms of opening box office. The first film hit theaters with $70.5 million. This one should flirt with $100 million. The overall quality will determine its legs, though. “Toy Story 3” was great. “Monsters University” fell off rather quickly by Pixar standards.

Opening weekend: $90-100 million.

Total: $290-310 million.

I’m still not sure if I’m excited for “The Secret Life of Pets”. But thanks to a stellar marketing campaign, this one could be one of the summer’s breakout hits. The premise seems fun and one that, surprisingly, hasn’t been explored yet.

Opening weekend: $70-80 million.

Total: $230-270 million.

“The Angry Birds Movie” is one of those that could be hard to predict. I don’t know a single person who is excited for this film, but it should do well drawing the millions and millions of kids out to theaters. “The Lego Movie” taught us that films like this can surprise. But my guess is if “Finding Dory” is up to Pixar’s lofty standards, this one may struggle to find its audience.

Opening weekend: $35-45 million.

Total: $130-150 million.

“Ice Age: Collision Course” sees the band getting back together .. again. The series has had diminishing returns in the U.S. And coming hot on the heels of “The Secret Life of Pets”, this one smells bomb to me.

Clint Eastwood adapts a hit musical while a sequel to “Think Like A Man” also hits theaters. Who will come out on top?

“Think Like A Man Too”, from director Tim Story, hits theaters two years after the first one surprised many by opening to $33 million. This one stars Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union, Meagan Good, Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert, Michael Ealy, Romany Malco, Adam Brody, Jerry Ferrara (“Entourage”) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Bridesmaids”). Oh yeah. And a little known comic named Kevin Hart.

The film moves its location to Las Vegas, always a smart choice for a comedy (“The Hangover”, “Last Vegas”, “What Happens in Vegas”, etc.) and this one will benefit from a summer opening. “The Best Man Holiday”, also a sequel, earned more than $30 million about the same amount of theaters as this one. Expect this one to be in the same range.

Clearly not, because Warner Brothers is releasing this one in the summer, not the fall. The last musical they released during the summer was “Rock of Ages” with Tom Cruise and a host of others. That movie bombed. And I can’t see this one doing much better. In fact, it might do worse.

The film brings much of the stage cast with it, and adds Christopher Walken to the mix. But, this is going to have limited appeal. I don’t see many young people seeing this film. And Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons aren’t the Beatles. Their appeal to people from that generation are also much more limited. On a side note, it can also be argued Eastwood’s last few outings, including “J. Edgar”, “Trouble With The Curve” and “Grand Torino” haven’t been up to par either.

With the limited access to computers I’ll be having over this week and next this will be an abbreviated version of the Box office battle.

This week, four films hit theaters. Will any break out?

“Turbo” features the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Snoop Dogg and more. And it’s premise about a racing slug has the possibility of attracting the same kind of crowd that Pixar’s “Cars” brought in. But, it’s being released after “Monsters University” and “Despicable Me 2” and with the much more anticipated (ugh) “The Smurfs 2” still to come, one has to wonder if this will be the odd animated film left out. Still, it still should do better than say “Rise of the Guardians” but probably not by much.

Opening weekend: $30-35 million

James Wan is back with “The Conjuring”. The director of “Saw” and “Insidious” has Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga starring in this film, which is gaining a ton of buzz about how scary it is. It’s not opening in as many theaters as the other films, but this one could make a strong play for first place.

Opening weekend: $28-33 million

“RED 2” stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung Hun Lee, Brian Cox and Neal McDonough. But the star power won’t help this film. The first film opened to $21 million on its way to $90 million domestically and nearly $200 million worldwide. I doubt it matches those numbers domestically as many view it as an unnecessary sequel to an OK first film, though it should open around the same level.

Opening weekend: $20-25 million

Finally we have “R.I.P.D.” The presence of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds won’t help this film escape its “Men in Black” knockoff feel and, frankly, it looks like this summer’s “Jonah Hex”. Never a good thing.

Giant robots and Adam Sandler couldn’t stop “Despicable Me 2”, which topped the box office for a second weekend in a row. The animated sequel earned $44.7 million. Adam Sandler had the second biggest opening of his career with “Grown Ups 2”, which also features Kevin James, David Spade, Taylor Lautner and more with $42 million. Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” opened with $38 million, a disappointing debut for the monster/robot film.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

On one hand, one of the most creative and best filmmakers out there comes out with his homage to monster movies, anime and giant robots. On the other hand we have…Adam Sandler. Who will come out on top?

It pains me to say this, but “Grown Ups 2” will do better than “Pacific Rim”. For some reason, Sandler continues to have his fans, despite his movies, for the most part, declining in quality through the years. This one sees Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade return. The last film opened to around $40 million and expect a similar audience this time around.

Opening weekend: $40-45 million

Unfortunately that means Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” will be left in the dust. People just don’t seem excited for this one, which is a sham since del Toro directed “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Hellboy”. To put it simply, this film looks epic. But won’t find an audience.

“I’m not a guy that plays inside baseball. My responsibility as a director is to be fiscally responsible and deliver a movie under budget and under schedule. I think we have an amazing movie — one I’ve seen connect with an audience like crazy. So it’s anyone’s guess what happens.”

That’s true. But, with all the films he wants to make like “Frankenstein” with Benedict Cumberbatch and “Hellboy 3” it’s going to be a little tougher to get those movies made.

Universal’s “Despicable Me 2” featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt and more, opened to $142 million over its first five days. That’s just higher than Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3”. Though it will see a stiff drop because of the holiday weekend being over, this film should get to $350 million and make a push for $400 million. Meanwhile, “The Lone Ranger” starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp struggled to $48.9 million over its first five days. That’s better than “Cowboys and Aliens”, but it failed to find the audience Disney was looking for. And with a budget of more than $200 million, this one doesn’t look good.

On its first day of release, “Despicable Me 2” exceeded expectations, earning a little over $34 million its opening day. Featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Benjamin Bratt, Kristen Wiig and more, that puts the film on pace for a huge opening this weekend. Meanwhile, Disney’s “The Lone Ranger” starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer will be another disappointment, earning a little less than $10 million. This won’t be “Battleship” or “John Carter” bad but this one is bombing badly.